Mrs. Schoonover's Bar-B-Q's

This was a recipe my Mom made a lot during my junior high and high school years. I had almost forgotten it when an old friend on Facebook told me that his mom had gotten the recipe from my mom years ago and she still made them and they referred to them to this day as 'Mrs. Schoonover's Bar-B-Q's'. What a nice flood of memories it brought back.


2 lbs. ground beef
2 cans Chicken Gumbo Soup
Salt
Pepper
Small amount of ketchup
1 T instant onion soup mix (optional)

Brown the ground beef. Drain and add remaining ingredients. Heat and serve on hamburger buns.

Homemade Fudge Brownies

In a bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla until well mixed. add butter and shortening. Combine flour, cocoa and salt. Stir into egg mixture and mix well. Grease a 9x13 inch pan and pour batter into the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool in pan and enjoy. How many you end up with depends entirely on how big you cut the pieces. :) Bright and yellow. All that butter and eggs and sugar.....mmmmmmmmmmmm Chocolatey! NOW it's looking really good! Cooling in the pan. Earl wanted his with a dollop of whipped cream on top. Yum!!

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Christmas is almost upon us (ok...not really. I'm just thinking ahead for a change.) and I found this recipe. What a perfect gift idea, yes?? I think so. Little bottles, a custom label and ribbon. How cute would that be? The vanilla beans are a little expensive, but since you can reuse them for at least a year they'd be worth the investment.

Ingredients
10 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
1 liter vodka

Directions
Place the vanilla beans in the bottle of vodka and seal. Store in a cool, dark area such as a kitchen cabinet for 3 weeks, shaking the bottle every week. Three weeks is the minimum, store it 6 months for the best flavor. After using, replace with more vodka. The same beans will continue to flavor the vanilla for up to a year.

Did you know that imitaion vanilla is made with synthetic vanilla from glycoside found in the sapwood of certain conifers and from coal extracts? Ugh! So I'll be making my own from now on. Here's an interesting site about vanilla and where it comes from. http://www.joyofbaking.com/Vanilla.html

And here's another good site. You can buy vanilla beans here, too. http://www.amadeusvanillabeans.com/ Enjoy!

Easy Biscuits~Really!

I just tried this recipe tonight and it is so easy and so good! They come out a lot like KFC biscuits. The only thing I did different from this recipe is that instead of patting out the dough and cutting it I took balls of the dough and put them in a greased muffin pan. That's how I usually do my biscuits because it's quicker and easier for me than rolling it out and cutting them. And I'm all for quicker and easier!

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup milk

Directions
Combine and mix ingredients together. Pour out on floured waxed paper. Pat the dough out with your hands until dough is not sticky (add a little flour if necessary). Fold double. Cut biscuits with a biscuit cutter.
Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 20-25 minutes.

Zucchini Crisp

I was looking through my recipes on here and couldn't believe I hadn't added this one. It's Earl's favorite and I've been making it for him for more than 8 years. Honestly, if you don't tell anyone it's zucchini they'll swear it's apples. An especially good recipe if you over did zucchini in the garden!

Crisp Mixture:

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 pound butter or margarine (3 sticks)

Filling:

8 cups prepared zucchini (About 3-4 medium,which have been peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced. I sometimes just grate them.)

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup Crisp Mixture (see above)

1 to 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg1 tablespoon cinnamon

To prepare the Crisp Mixture:

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar and salt . Using a pastry
blender, cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly; set aside.

To prepare the Filling:

In a large saucepan, over medium-high heat, cook the zucchini, lemon juice and vinegar together, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is very tender, but still retains its shape. Stir in 1/2 cup of the prepared Crisp Mixture, and the brown sugar, nutmeg and salt. Simmer over low heat several minutes, stirring constantly, to allow the filling to thicken, and the flavors to blend.

Pat half of the remaining crisp mixture into a 9 x 13-inch pan. Spread the zucchini filling over the base. Sprinkle the rest of the crisp mixture evenly over the filling; press lightly. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until bubbly hot throughout, and top is lightly browned.

Serve warm or cold. Very good with vanilla ice cream.

AWESOME BEER BREAD!!

I have to thank my Facebook friend, Brooke for this recipe. She posted it on her forum and it sounded so good I had to try it! It was FABULOUS!! A heavy, dense bread that I was thinking would be perfect with a big bowl of chili. Of course, that's if it lasts until dinner. My Earl ate almost the whole loaf by himself. LOL

3 cups of self-rising flour (or all purpose flour + 1 T baking powder)
1 T sugar
1 egg
1 12-oz can of beer

Mix it all together and dump in a greased bread pan. Bake at 375F for about 46 minutes. Best to have the oven pre-heated.

I added parmesan cheese and garlic powder to my loaf. You could also try dill, rosemary, oregano and shredded cheese. I was thinking about using sharp cheddar or pepperjack next time. Easy Peasy!